Opticians
(Registration) (Jersey) Law 1962[1]
A LAW requiring the registration of
ophthalmic and dispensing opticians, to provide for the enrolment of bodies
corporate carrying on business as opticians, to regulate the practice of
opticians and the conduct by such bodies corporate of
their business as opticians, and for purposes connected therewith
Commencement
[see endnotes]
1 Interpretation
(1) In this Law, unless the
context otherwise requires –
“Commission” means the Health and Social Care Commission
established by Article 35 of the Regulation of Care (Jersey)
Law 2014;
“Court” means the Inferior Number of the Royal Court;
“dispensing optician” means an individual engaged or
proposing to engage in the fitting and supply of optical appliances;
“enrolled” means enrolled in either of the lists;
“list” means the list of bodies corporate carrying on
business as optometrists or the list of bodies corporate carrying on business
as dispensing opticians;
“optical appliance” means an appliance designed to
correct, remedy or relieve a defect of sight;
“Opticians Act” means the Opticians Act 1989 of the
United Kingdom;
“optometrist” means an individual engaged or proposing
to engage in the testing of sight (otherwise than as a registered medical
practitioner), whether or not the individual is also engaged or proposing to
engage in the fitting and supply of optical appliances;
“prescribed” means prescribed by Order made by the Chief
Minister under this Law;
“Register” means either of the registers of optometrists
or the register of dispensing opticians kept in pursuance of the Opticians Act;
“registered dispensing optician” means an individual
registered as a dispensing optician in pursuance of this Law or of the Law
repealed by this Law;
“registered medical practitioner” has the same meaning
as in the Medical Practitioners
(Registration) (Jersey) Law 1960;
“registered optician” means a registered optometrist or
a registered dispensing optician, and “registration” shall be
construed accordingly;
“registered optometrist” means an individual registered as
an optometrist under this Law (or as an ophthalmic optician under this law up
to the commencement of the Opticians (Registration) (Amendment No. 2)
(Jersey) Law 2017);
“test the sight” means test the sight with the object of
determining whether there is any and, if so, what defect of sight and of
correcting, remedying or relieving any such defect of
an anatomical or physiological nature by means of an optical appliance
prescribed on the basis of the determination.[2]
(2) References in this Law
to any other enactment (including an enactment of the Parliament of the United
Kingdom) shall be construed as references thereto, as amended and as including
references thereto as extended, by or under any subsequent enactment.
2 Individuals
who may be registered
(1) No individual shall be
registered as an optometrist in pursuance of this Law unless he or she is duly
registered as an optometrist in pursuance of the Opticians Act.[3]
(2) No individual shall be
registered as a dispensing optician in pursuance of this Law unless he or she
is duly registered as a dispensing optician in pursuance of the Opticians Act.
3 Registration
(1) An application for
registration in pursuance of this Law shall be made to the Court and shall be
accompanied by either –
(a)
(i) a
copy of the last official edition of the Register published in accordance with
section 11 of the Opticians Act, and
(ii) the
certificate or certificates of qualification by virtue of which the applicant
was registered in the Register; or
(b) a
certificate under the hand of the Registrar of the General Optical Council to
the effect that the applicant is registered in the Register and specifying the
qualifications by virtue of which he or she was so registered.[4]
(2) Where the applicant is
an alien, the Court may require the applicant to produce a duly authenticated
certificate of good character.
(3) The qualifications by
virtue of which an individual is registered in pursuance of this Law shall be
set out in the act of the Court ordering the registration.
4 Roll
of registered opticians to be kept
The Judicial Greffier shall make and keep
posted in the Lobby of the Royal Court House a roll of registered optometrists and
a roll of registered dispensing opticians, showing their names and addresses
and the qualifications by virtue of which they were registered.[5]
5 Penalty
for abuse of certificates or fraudulently obtaining registration
If any individual –
(a) with intent to deceive,
forges, or uses, or lends to or allows to be used by any other individual, a
certificate of registration or other certificate issued under the Opticians
Act, or a certificate of qualification entitling the individual to be
registered in the Register, or makes or has in the individual’s
possession a document so closely resembling any such certificate as aforesaid as
to be calculated to deceive; or
(b) obtains or attempts to
obtain the registration of the individual as an optician in pursuance of this Law
by assuming the name or qualifications of another individual,
he or she shall be liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 2
years or to a fine, or both.[6]
6 Lists
of bodies corporate carrying on business as opticians
(1) The Commission shall
continue to maintain a list of bodies corporate carrying on business as optometrists
and a list of bodies corporate carrying on business as dispensing opticians,
each containing the names, principal places of business and such other
particulars as may be prescribed of the bodies which are entitled under the
following provisions of this Law to be enrolled therein and which apply in the
prescribed manner to be so enrolled.[7]
(2) A body corporate shall
be entitled to be enrolled in the appropriate list –
(a) if it
satisfies the Commission that a majority of its directors are registered
opticians or, in the case of a body corporate having only one director, that the
director is a registered optician; or
(b) if it
satisfies the Commission that the greater part of its business consists of
activities other than the testing of sight and the fitting and supply of
optical appliances and that so much of its business as consists of the testing
of sight is carried on under the management of a registered optometrist and
that so much thereof as consists of the fitting and supply of optical
appliances is carried on under the management of a registered optician;
(c) if it
is registered in the register of bodies corporate carrying on business as an
optometrist or a dispensing optician, or both, maintained under section 9
of the Opticians Act.[8]
7 Supplementary
provisions as to lists
(1) The Chief Minister may
by Order make provision with respect to the form and keeping of lists and the
making of entries and alterations therein and, in particular –
(a) regulating
the making of applications for enrolment or for transfer from one list to
another, and providing for the evidence to be produced, in support of any such application;
(b) providing
for the notification to the Commission of any change in the particulars
entitling a body corporate to be enrolled;
(c) prescribing
a fee to be charged on the entry of a name in, or the restoration of a name to,
the list;
(d) prescribing
a fee to be charged in respect of the retention in the list of any name in any
year subsequent to the year in which that name was first entered in the list;
(e) providing
that the entry of a name in, or the restoration of a name to, the list may be
refused until a fee prescribed for the entry or restoration has been paid, and
that the name of a body corporate may be erased from the list if, after the
prescribed notices and warnings, the body corporate fails to pay the fee
prescribed in respect of the retention of that name in the list;
(f) prescribing
anything required or authorized to be prescribed by the provisions of this Law
relating to the lists.[9]
(2) An Order under this Article
which provides for the erasure of a name from the list on failure to pay a fee
shall provide for its restoration thereto on the making of the prescribed
application in that behalf and on payment of that fee and any additional fee
prescribed in respect of the restoration.
(3) An Order under this Article
prescribing fees may provide for the charging of different fees in different
classes of cases.
(4) [10]
8 Procedure
where the names of opticians are erased from the register kept by the registrar
of the General Optical Council
The Court shall, on the motion of the Attorney General, order that
the registration of any registered optician be cancelled where the name of the
optician has been erased from the Register by virtue of Part 2A of the Opticians
Act.[11]
9 Power
of court to cancel registration or to order erasure from list
(1) The Court may, on the
motion of the Attorney General, order that the registration of any registered
optician be cancelled where the optician –
(a) has
been convicted in Jersey of a crime or misdemeanour or has been convicted,
either in His Majesty’s dominions or elsewhere, of an offence which, if
committed in Jersey, would be a crime or misdemeanour; or
(b) has
been guilty of infamous or disgraceful conduct in a professional respect.[12]
(2) The Court may, on the
motion of the Attorney General, order that the name of any enrolled body
corporate be erased from the list where –
(a) the
body corporate has been convicted of an offence under this Law, or of aiding,
abetting, counselling or procuring the commission of,
or inciting another person to commit, such an offence; or
(b) the
Court is of opinion that the conditions, or any of the conditions, for the
enrolment of the body corporate are no longer satisfied.
(3) Where a registered
optician dies while he or she is either a director of an enrolled body
corporate or the manager of that part of the business of an enrolled body
corporate which consists of the testing of sight or the fitting and supply of
optical appliances, he or she shall be deemed, for the purposes of this paragraph,
to have continued to be a director of that body or a manager of that part of
its business, as the case may be, until the expiration of the 3 months
beginning with the date of his or her death or until a director or manager is
appointed in his or her place, whichever first occurs.
(4) The Court may, on the
motion of the Attorney General, order that the registration of any registered
optician be cancelled or that the name of any enrolled body corporate be erased
from the list where it appears to the Court that the optician or body corporate
has contravened or failed to comply with the provisions of any Order made under
Article 18 and that the contravention or failure is such as to render the
optician unfit to be registered or the body corporate unfit to have its name on
the list.
(5) The Court may, on the
motion of the Attorney General, order that the registration of any registered
optician be cancelled or that the name of any enrolled body corporate be erased
from the list where it appears to the Court –
(a) that
the optician or body corporate is engaged in the fitting and supply of optical
appliances; and
(b) that
the arrangements made by the optician or body corporate for carrying on the
optician’s practice or the optician or body corporate’s business
are not such as to secure that the fitting and supply of optical appliances in
the course of that practice or business are carried out by, or under the
supervision of, a registered optometrist engaged or proposing to engage both in
the testing of sight and in the fitting and supply of optical appliances, or a
registered dispensing optician.[13]
(6) The Court may, on the
motion of the Attorney General, order that the name of any enrolled body
corporate be erased from the list where –
(a) the
registration of a director of the body corporate is cancelled under Article 8
or under paragraph (1) of this Article;
(b) a
director of the body corporate is convicted of an offence under this Law; or
(c) the
registration of a registered optician employed by the body corporate is
cancelled under Article 8 or under paragraph (1) of this Article and
the act or omission constituting the ground on which it was cancelled was
instigated or connived at by a director of the body corporate, or, if the act
or omission was a continuing act or omission, a director of the body corporate
had, or reasonably ought to have had, knowledge of the continuance thereof:
Provided that the Court shall not take a case into consideration
during any period within which proceedings by way of appeal may be brought
which may result in this paragraph being rendered inapplicable in that case or
while any such proceedings are pending.
(7) Where it appears to the
Court that a body corporate which carries on business as an optometrist or
dispensing optician at more than one set of premises is liable to have its name
erased from the list under this Article and that the events giving rise to the
liability were confined, or substantially confined, to a particular set of
premises, the Court may, instead of ordering the erasure of the name of the
body corporate from the list, order that the body corporate shall not use the
title of optometrist, dispensing optician, registered optician or enrolled
optician in connection with that set of premises; and if at any time thereafter
it appears to the Court that the body corporate has contravened an order in
force under this paragraph, the Court may, if it thinks fit, order the erasure
of the name of the body corporate from the list.[14]
(8) No order shall be made
under this Article unless the registered optician or body corporate concerned
has been given an opportunity of showing cause why the order should not be
made.
10 Cancellation
of registration and erasure from list on grounds of fraud or error
The Court may, on the motion of the Attorney General, order that the
registration of any registered optician be cancelled or that the name of any
enrolled body corporate be erased from the list where it appears to the Court
that the registration of the optician or the entry of the name in the list has
been fraudulently made or that any matter relating to the registration or entry
is incorrect.
11 Re-registration
of individuals and restoration of names erased
(1) Where the registration
of an individual has been cancelled or the name of a body corporate has been
erased from the list in pursuance of an order made under Article 8, 9 or
10, that individual shall not be registered or, as the case may be, the name of
that body corporate shall not be entered in either of the lists unless the
Court, on an application made in that behalf, has rescinded the order.
(2) The reference in paragraph (1)
of this Article to an order made under Article 9 shall include a reference
to an order of the Royal Court made under Article 5 of the Opticians
(Registration) (Jersey) Law 1951.
12 Restriction
on testing of sight
(1) An individual who is
not a registered medical practitioner or a registered optometrist shall not
test the sight of another individual.[15]
(1A) However, an individual is exempt
from paragraph (1) if the individual is –
(a) training
as an optometrist; and
(b) exempt
from section 24(1) of the Opticians Act by virtue of rules made under
section 24(3) of that Act.[16]
(2) Any individual who
contravenes the provisions of this Article shall be liable to a fine not
exceeding level 3 on the standard scale.[17]
13 Restriction
on sale of optical appliances or zero powers contact
lenses[18]
(1) Subject to the
following provisions of this Article, a person shall not sell any optical
appliance or zero powered contact lens unless the sale is effected
by or under the supervision of a registered medical practitioner or of a
registered optician.[19]
(2) Paragraph (1)
shall not apply to the sale of an optical appliance or zero powered
contact lens –
(a) to a
registered medical practitioner, registered optician or enrolled body corporate
for the purposes of his or her practice or of his, her or its business;
(b) to a
manufacturer of or dealer in optical appliances or zero powered contact lens for
the purposes of his or her business;
(c) to
any authority or person carrying on a hospital, clinic, nursing home or other
institution providing medical or surgical treatment;
(d) to a
department of the Government of the United Kingdom or of the States; or
(e) for
the purposes of its export.[20]
(3) Paragraph (1) of
this Article shall not apply to a sale for a person not under the age of 16 of
spectacles which have two single vision lenses of the same positive spherical
power not exceeding 4 dioptres, where the sale is wholly for the purpose
of correcting, remedying or relieving the condition
known as presbyopia.[21]
(4) For the purposes of
paragraph (3) of this Article, lenses are to be taken to have the same
positive spherical power if the difference between them is within the
tolerances relating to the power of such lenses specified from time to time in
the British Standard Specification.[22]
(5) On any prosecution for
selling an optical appliance in contravention of paragraph (1), it shall
be a defence for the defendant to prove that the defendant sold the appliance
as an antique article and that the defendant did not know, and had no reason to
believe, that the appliance was bought for the purpose of being used for
correcting, remedying or relieving a defect of sight.
(6) Any person who
contravenes the provisions of this Article shall be liable to a fine not
exceeding level 3 on the standard scale.[23]
13A No obligation to
buy optical appliance from any particular person[24]
A patient shall not be required, as a condition of having his or her
sight tested, to agree to buy from any particular person
any optical appliance that the testing of his or her sight may show that the
patient is required to wear or use.
14 Restriction
on use of optician’s titles
(1) Any
individual –
(a) who
takes or uses any of the following titles (either alone or in combination with
any other words) in the circumstances mentioned in relation thereto, that is to say, the title of optometrist when the individual
is not a registered optometrist, or the title of dispensing optician,
registered optician or enrolled optician when the individual is not a
registered optician; or
(b) who
takes or uses any name, title, addition or description
falsely implying, or otherwise pretends, that the individual is a registered
optician,
shall be liable to imprisonment for a term of 12 months and to
a fine of level 3 on the standard scale.[25]
(2) Any
body corporate –
(a) which
takes or uses any of the following titles (either alone or in combination with
any other words) in the circumstances mentioned in relation thereto, that is to
say, the title of optometrist when it is not enrolled in the list of bodies
corporate carrying on business as optometrists or the title of dispensing
optician when it is not enrolled in the list of bodies corporate carrying on
business as dispensing opticians, or which takes or uses the title of
registered optician or enrolled optician, when it is not enrolled in either of
the lists; or
(b) which
takes or uses any name, title, addition or description
falsely implying, or otherwise pretends, that it is enrolled in either of the
lists,
shall be liable to imprisonment for a term of 12 months and to
a fine of level 3 on the standard scale.[26]
15 Provision
as to death or bankruptcy of registered optician
(1) Where a registered
optician dies at a time when he or she is carrying on business or is in
practice as an optician, then during the 3 years beginning with his or her
death or such longer period as the Commission may in any particular case allow,
Article 14 shall not operate to prevent the registered optician’s
personal representatives, widow or any of his or her children on behalf of the widow
or any of his or her children from taking or using in relation to that business
or practice, but in conjunction with the name in which he or she carried it on,
any title which he or she was entitled to take or use immediately before his or
her death.[27]
(2) Where a registered
optician becomes bankrupt at a time when he or she is carrying on business or
is in practice as an optician, then, during the 3 years beginning with the
bankruptcy, Article 14 shall not operate to prevent the person entrusted
with the administration of the registered optician’s property from taking
or using in relation to that business or practice, but in conjunction with the
name in which the registered optician carried it on, any title which the
registered optician was entitled to take or use immediately before the
bankruptcy.
(3) Where, by virtue of the
foregoing provisions of this Article, any title in relation to the business or
practice of a deceased optician or an optician who has become bankrupt is taken
or used, and an offence under Article 12 or 13 is committed in the course
of that business or practice, the Commission may, if it thinks fit, direct that
the said paragraph (1) or, as the case may be, the said paragraph (2)
shall cease to apply in relation to that business or practice.[28]
16 Offences
by bodies corporate
Where an offence under this Law which has been committed by a body
corporate is proved to have been committed with the consent or connivance of,
or to be attributable to any neglect on the part of, any director, manager,
secretary or other similar officer of the body corporate, or any individual
purporting to act in any such capacity, he or she, as well as the body
corporate, shall be deemed to be guilty of that offence and shall be liable to
be proceeded against and punished accordingly.
17 Consultation
with registered opticians
(1) The Commission shall
nominate not less than 2 and not more than 4 registered opticians, with
whom it shall consult before making any Order under Article 18, and from
whom the Commission may seek advice on the discharge of its functions generally
under this Law.[29]
(2) Any such nomination may
be terminated at any time by the Commission should it so think fit.[30]
18 Miscellaneous
matters with respect to which Orders may be made
(1) Subject to the
provisions of Article 17 and paragraph (2) of this Article, the Chief
Minister may by Order prohibit or regulate –
(a) the
use by registered opticians and enrolled bodies corporate of any means of
giving publicity, whether by advertisements or not, to their practice or
business of ophthalmic or dispensing opticians;
(b) the
carrying on of practice or business by registered opticians and enrolled bodies
corporate under names other than those under which they are registered or enrolled;
(c) the
administration of drugs by registered opticians, enrolled bodies corporate and
their employees in the course of their practice or business of ophthalmic or
dispensing opticians;
(d) the
practice of orthoptics by registered opticians, enrolled bodies corporate and
their employees;
(e) the
prescription, supply and fitting by registered opticians, enrolled bodies
corporate and their employees of contact lenses.[31]
(2) The power of the Chief Minister
to make Orders by virtue of paragraph (1)(a) shall not include power to
prohibit the display, for the purposes of the practice or business of a
registered optician or enrolled body corporate, of optical appliances or parts
of optical appliances on premises where the fitting and supply of optical appliances
is being carried on as part of that business or practice or in any building
comprising those premises.[32]
(3) Subject to the
provisions of Article 17, the Chief Minister may by Order provide that
where it appears to a registered optician that an individual consulting him or
her is suffering from an injury or disease of the eye, the optician shall,
except in an emergency or where that individual is consulting him or her for
the purpose of being given treatment in accordance with any Order made under paragraph (1)(d)
or any such other cases as may be prescribed by the Order, being cases in which
it is, owing to special circumstances, impracticable or inexpedient so to do,
take the prescribed steps to refer that individual to a registered medical
practitioner for advice and treatment.[33]
(4) Any Order made under
this Article may make different provision for different classes of cases.
19 [34]
20 Citation
This Law may be cited as the Opticians (Registration) (Jersey)
Law 1962.